UK war memorials website launched

An ambitious four-year programme to create ukwarmemorials.org, a one stop shop for information on all UK war memorials along with where to go for advice and funding has been launched with the support of Civic Voice and the civic society movement. The move means local people will once again be at the heart of protecting and conserving war memorials. Funded by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport from the fines paid by banks that attempted to manipulate the LIBOR, the initiative draws resources together from across the UK. The website will allow easy access to what specialist organisations know about war memorials and tap into expert advice on how best to look after them. This includes how to get grants for conservation and how to get memorials listed. It will expand in stages over the next four years so that by the end of the project the website will be easily searchable, helping people track down historical information, listed status, condition and inscribed names. Chair of Civic Voice, Dr Freddie Gick said “This initiative demonstrates the importance we attach to remembering the contribution made by millions of men and women who gave their lives during the First World War. We are delighted that Civic Voice and the civic society movement will be playing a major role in helping to ensure that the country’s war memorials are in a fitting condition to reflect the price paid by earlier generations. We are pleased to work with our partners English Heritage, War Memorials Trust, IWM and DCMS on this project and we look forward to welcoming individuals to one of the hundreds of workshops across England”.